Straight privilege

The smarmy, undiscovered cousin of white privilege, waiting for his chance to shine.

One of the programs we run has a contingent that is just for GLBT families. They deal with some issues that nobody else is really dealing with (or knows or believes they’re dealing with until their kids come out), so often they need their own time and space to process. Not to mention, when they get put into groups with straight people and start talking about issues related to their sexual orientations, reactions range from “So who’s the man?” to “That’s not really relevant to anybody but lesbians” to “Have you considered taking Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior?” We have, in the past, had families demand our program take an explicitly Christian stance (that is, non-acceptance) and purge our ranks of openly practicing homosexuals. All this requested seconds after praising us for the work we do in making their children feel accepted and proud of who they are.

Anyway, our GLBT group is called just that: GLBT. We just got an email from a woman saying that she really thinks that “people” need to spell out what this GLBT means, and not just use the acronym. She only recently found out what it means. I am guessing she is only looking at our GLBT group because our more popular group has recently filled and been closed to new registrants.

So, here’s the breakdown of straight privilege going on here:

1. A grown woman who lives in a major metropolitan area in the 21st century somehow DOES NOT KNOW what GLBT means. That’s something only a straight person could ever be capable of.

2. This grown woman sees an acronym she does not understand attached to a group she would like to attend. Rather than , she simply assumes she will be able to attend. Because why wouldn’t she? It’s not like she’s ever been excluded from anything, or had to search for a safe space.

3. This grown woman somehow discovers what GLBT means, and becomes irate that we do not plaster GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY HOMOSEX IN THE BUTT all over our materials so that she (not gay) does not have to waste her time and energy trying to be involved in a group that she later finds out won’t accept her kind. It is our duty to make sure that anybody who is different from her is clearly labeled and defined as different, so that she does not have to do the important, difficult, and soul-searching work of a google or Showtime TV series.

Welcome to straight privilege. Population: a Venn diagram of assholes.